The Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade had 21 points and 9 rebounds in their Game 7 win over the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, a big reason that his team is headed to their third straight NBA Finals. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky. Photograph: Lynne Sladky/AP

Final thoughts

Are there ceremonies here for the end of the Conference Finals? I don't even remember, it's been so long since the San Antonio Spurs wrapped up the Western Conference Finals. In any case, the Miami Heat played their best game of the series at the right time to completely demolish an Indiana Pacers team that gave them a much harder fight than anyone predicted. So, the Heat will be playing in their third straight NBA Finals with a good chance of winning back-to-back championships.

The Pacers really should be commended for the series they played against the Heat, they won't be surprising anybody next season not after the breakthrough performances by Paul George and Roy Hibbert. They were a fun underdog to root for, but eventually the Miami Heat that we all expected came to play.

The Heat are going to have to play more like they did in Game 7 once the NBA Finals start on Thursday. They do have home court advantage over the San Antonio Spurs, who almost certainly will give the Heat at least as much trouble. This should be a really good NBA Finals, at least we hope so because we'll be liveblogging every game here at the Guardian starting on Thursday. This, however, will be it from us tonight, I just want to thank everyone for following Game 7 along with me, especially everybody who helped contribute. Ciao!

Pacers 76-99 Heat - FINAL

Pacers 72-97 Heat - 1:00 remaining, 4th quarter

Tyler Hansbrough makes a layup. Could we speed things up here guys? Nope, Mario Chalmers gets on the free throw line. He makes one of two and... a loose ball foul? Come on! *taps imaginary wristwatch in petulant manner to indicate he no longer has time for this*

Pacers 70-96 Heat - 2:38 remaining, 4th quarter

As a Celtics fan, I'm looking around for Brian Scalabrine just out of habit. Norris Cole makes two jumpers... and then gets himself ejected in garbage time along with Pendergraph. Just a dumb dumb risk for Cole to take and a cheap shot for the Pacers.

Pacers 68-92 Heat - 3:44 remaining, 4th quarter

Chris Andersen makes a free throw, Gerald Green gets a shot in, and Miami takes out Dwyane Wade to the applause of the Miami crowd. Oh hey, James Jones still exists, I haven't seen him from here to eternity.

From Dominic Mackey:

Are all these Indiana fouls for Indiana genuine fouls or are part of another "NBA conspiracy"?

Mostly just last gasp desperate strategy to stop the clock at this point.

Pacers 63-89 Heat - 5:37 remaining, 4th quarter

Pacers 61-86 Heat - 6:43 remaining, 4th quarter

We're starting to hit the "let's amuse ourselves" part of this one as it plays out. Green uses up another one of his fouls, he's in to take one for the team, to put LeBron James back on the free throw line. He makes them, that's 32 points and here comes "Seven Nation Army".

Pacers 61-79 Heat - 8:57 remaining, 4th quarter

Andrew Churchman emails us, with the subject "Cleveland" and apparently there's some ill-will still over there:

APOLOGIZE TO THE CITY OF CLEVELAND, LEBRON. YOU DRIBBLED THE BALL OUT AND EMBARRASSED A CITY. AND EVEN WITH THIS FECKLESS, FLOP-ABLE TEAM, DON'T SEEM DESTINED TO DO MUCH MORE THAN SCRATCH AT THE SURFACE--WHILE YOU WATCH TEAMS LIKE IN grow into something that year-after-year, you will not be able to handle

Pacers 55-78 Heat - 11:25 remaining, 4th quarter

LeBron James has 25 points now, and I very much doubt that this is the end. The Pacers look defeated on the bench. The crowd is loud. And we have a Gerald Green appearance and he immediately gives a (non-shooting) foul which might be his only purpose here.

Pacers 55-76 Heat - end of the 3rd quarter

And more "Seven Nation Army" chants. I'm trying to give you as much respect as possible Miami crowds! LeBron James goes to the free throw line with a chance to go 12-from-12. He does, and oh in the process he got another foul on Paul George. And that sends the scoring of a monster third quarter for the Heat.

Pacers 55-74 Heat - :20 remaining, 3rd quarter

The Pacers at this point are clearly frustrated and not playing well. Paul George commits a needless foul to put Miami on the line. Chris Andersen makes his two free throws and this really is starting to look out of reach.

Pacers 55-72 Heat - 1:29 remaining, 3rd quarter

The Heat switch out their Chrises, replacing Bosh with Andersen, and Chalmers picks up his fourth foul to put George Hill on the line. Hill hits the first, and can't afford to miss the second, which he doesn't.

Pacers 53-70 Heat - 2:09 remaining, 3rd quarter

Pacers 53-70 Heat - 3:36 remaining, 3rd quarter

And a foul on (hears crowd) I'm guessing Indiana here. Yup, it's on David West who says a few things to the ref. Chris Bosh is on the line here, the whole Big Three are getting in on the freebies, and he makes both.

Pacers 53-68 Heat - 3:36 remaining, 3rd quarter

This is bad. Roy Hibbert picks up his fourth foul, and the Pacers are going to have to be careful with him for the rest of the game. Dwyane Wade is on the line now, and he extends the Heat's lead by two.

Pacers 53-66 Heat - 3:49 remaining, 3rd quarter

And we need a new ball here, as it goes out of bounds off Wade into a spectator's adult beverage. It's going to be Indiana ball and in the ensuing possession Hibbert hits the floor. He makes both free throws.

Geez, maybe Marv could suit up and play for the Heat. He sure wants them to win!!

Of course he wants him to win, the rating for Spurs/Pacers will be atrocious, nearly everyone who works for television is secretly, or not so secretly, rooting for LeBron and the Heat here for purely selfish reasons.

Pacers 34-44 Heat - 2:56 remaining, 2nd Quarter

Roy Hibbert just barely holds onto the ball, but gets it to Dave West who makes the layup and an "and one". Except he misses the "and one" which is snatched up the Heat, Ray Allen hits another three pointer and there goes any momentum that there could have been. After a Hill miss, Hibbert fouls LeBron, putting him on the line. The Heat call a timeout.

Pacers 29-39 Heat - 5:52 remaining, 2nd Quarter

West makes a jumper, but unfortunately for him that's completely overshadowed by the reappearance of Chris Bosh from the multiverse, he knocks off five straight points, the last three on a downtown shot assisted by the also recently resurrected Ray Allen and the Pacers call mercy... er, timeout.

Pacers 27-34 Heat - 6:58 remaining, 2nd Quarter

Wade replaces James. The Heat throw the ball off the court for a rare Mimi turnover, but Indiana decided to give it right back. The Miami crowd starts to sing "Seven Nation Army" which is unfortunate. David West gets called for a technical foul on a three-second violation to put Ray Allen on the line where he adds a point.

Pacers 25-28 Heat - 9:15 remaining, 2nd Quarter

Ray Allen would like you to know that unlike Grant Hill and Jason Kidd, reports of his retirement have been greatly exaggerated, he hits a huge three pointer. Hansbrough dunks on the other end, but Chris Andersen, who just isn't going to miss anything ever ever ever again makes his first shot of the game and the Heat have a three point lead.

Pacers 23-23 Heat - 10:25 remaining, 2nd Quarter

Pacers 23-21 Heat - 11:18 remaining, 2nd Quarter

The Miami Heat didn't get the calls in that first quarter, we'll see if that changes in the second quarter. Roy Hibbert starts the scoring in the second with a 22 foot jumper, but the Heat responds when Cole gets the ball to James for a jumper of their own.

Pacers 21-19 Heat - end of the 1st Quarter

Paul George makes 1 of 2 free throws after being fouled by Mike Miller. Chris Andersen comes into the game, so it's time to pay close attention. Then George gets to the line once again, this shooting foul on Ray Allen. Again he makes one out of two, not the best free throw performance by anyone. Then George gets called for traveling and LeBron James misses a layup on the other end. The first quarter ends about as goofily as it began scoring-wise.

Pacers 19-15 Heat - 2:21 remaining, 1st Quarter

Indiana Pacers 17-15 Miami Heat - 2:31 remaining, 1st Quarter

Pacers keep getting their own rebounds, but can't do anything. Then Paul George gets called for a foul on LeBron James, they are just not doing anything with the opportunities they are getting. Haslem comes out, Mike Miller comes in.

But it's George who hits the three-pointer, the Pacers retake the lead.

Indiana Pacers 14-15 Miami Heat - 3:51 remaining, 1st Quarter

Pacers have the ball out of the timeout. The Heat come out with some swarming defense and Indiana can't get a shot off in time, giving the ball back to Miami. The Heat keep doing that, they're going to win this one easily. Can they?

And Chris Bosh gets called for traveling on the other end, negating a Heat bucket. The crowd is not happy.

Indiana Pacers 14-15 Miami Heat - 4:15 remaining, 1st Quarter

It should be noted that that LeBron James scoring opportunity was thanks to a Udonis Haslem steal on George Hill. Capitalizing on this Indiana's team bad ball control is the key to knocking them out, Miami has to make them pay for their turnovers (seven so far this game, by my count).

Indiana Pacers 14-10 Miami Heat - 5:50 remaining, 1st Quarter

The Pacers commit yet another turnover as the officials say the ball has gone off of Lance Stephenson, and Mario Chalmers converts a floater on the other end. Which would be great for Miami but Lance Stephenson immediately responds with a made jumper. Miami needs more stops.

Indiana Pacers 8-6 Miami Heat - 7:54 remaining, 1st Quarter

Indiana Pacers 5-6 Miami Heat - 8:32 remaining, 1st Quarter

This is more like it, Lance Stephenson makes a three-pointer, answered by Dwyane Wade who makes an emphatic layup, that's two scoring attempts in a row. Then Chris Bosh makes an appearance and scores two of his own! Exactly what the Heat need.

Indiana Pacers 2-2 Miami Heat - 10:10 remaining, 1st Quarter

And we have a foul on the Indiana Pacers right away. This is fun. No hope that the referees will be putting their whistles away? Both sides go scoreless for the first minute. Roy Hibbert who hits the first two-point shot of the game, and is immediately answered by Dwyane Wade.

Mike Miller

Considering how ineffective Ray Allen and Shane Battier have been off the bench for this series, do not be shocked to see Erik Spoelstra to go to Mike Miller early and often in Game 7. Miller's back-to-back three's in Game 6 essentially were Miami's last big run, and everyone in Miami remembers his big performance in the fifth and final game of the NBA Finals last year.

Tweets

@HunterFelt@GdnUSsports LeBron to have huge game & Bosh and/or Wade will stand up too. Heat to win. But I suspect Spurs aren't too worried

I have to think this is true, and I also have to think that no matter who wins, the Spurs might actually end up being favored in the Finals. That would seem almost unthinkable when the Heat were going on their 27 game winning streak.

Keys of the Game

Frank Vogel, coach of the Indiana Pacers didn't complicate matters in his comments to ESPN earlier today: "It is a closeout game and an elimination game. Our approach right now is not if we lose we're out -- our approach is if we win, we get to the finals."

Vogel declined to answer follow up questions from reporters asking him about how he would describe the relative amount of water left in their glasses.

Jason Kidd's lyrical legacy

As great as Jason Kidd was as a player, his pop culture legacy was ensured the very second that Nelly included the line "I'm just kiddin like Jason" in his classic single "Hot In Herre" which was also the unofficial anthem of my graduating class back in college.

This is basically why I'm starting to feel old folks.

Hey, wait, Jason Kidd was mentioned in "Hot In Herre", Jason Kidd announced his retirement before Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals featuring... the MIAMI HEAT! Kidd's sneakily exposed David Stern's conspiracy! WAKE UP SHEEPLE! (This comment brought to you by your friend that keeps sending you links to I N F O W A R S.)

Predictions

I have no idea why I'm even bothering to come up with a prediction tonight, I've pretty much been dead wrong every single time I've attempted to call this series. I'm going to go with Miami Heat 91, Indiana Pacers 83. That's probably a good sign for Pacers fans. What does everyone else think? Who goes on to face the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals? How does the game go? Will Chris Bosh actually show up? You can either email hunter.felt.freelance@guardiannews.com or tweet @HunterFelt and we'll share your thoughts here.

Jason Kidd

A quick note about another retirement. Yesterday, after hearing Grant Hill was going to retire I joked that Jason Kidd was now not allowed to retire just to save me thoughts of my own mortality. So, of course, today Jason Kidd announced he was retiring as well. Again not a shock, Kidd had literally not hit a single shot in his last few games with the New York Knicks, but sad none-the-less.

Preamble

Very few people expected the Eastern Conference Finals to go to a Game 7, yet here we are. On Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Indiana Pacers took a page from the Miami Heat's playbook, coming out with a brilliant third quarter to put the game all but out of reach. The Pacers pulled off a 91-77 win to bring the game back to American Airlines Arena in Miami. The winner of tonight's Game 7 goes on to face the well-rested San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. For the loser, the season ends tonight.

The Miami Heat were, by far, the best team in the NBA all season long and looked close to unbeatable coming into the playoffs. However, with Dwyane Wade clearly injured and Chris Bosh fading in and out of view like McFly at the end of "Back fo the Future", LeBron James has had to go into "Cleveland" mode, doing the brunt of the offensive damage for much of the series. Unfortunately for the Pacers, that plus Miami's home court advantage, still could be more than enough to end the Pacers' underdog run tonight.

The good news for basketball fans is that both teams are operating with full rosters today. David West, who was ineffective in the first half of Game 6 before a brilliant second half, should be recovered from the fever that affected his shooting on Saturday. Indiana's center Roy Hibbert did a number on LeBron James in Game 6, but almost risked a suspension thanks to the use of some unacceptable language in Saturday night's postgame comments. Win or lose, expect Hibbert to be a little less freewheeling in front of the press tonight. Speaking of suspensions, the Heat's Chris Andersen is also back after his Game 6 suspension for shoving Tyler Hansbrough. While Joel Anthony was able to make some key defensive plays in Game 6 in Andersen's absence, Miami are a better team with the Birdman, who has refused to miss a shot this entire series.

All in all, it has been a fun series, especially after the fun-hating San Antonio Spurs cut the Western Conference Finals short by sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies. It's almost a shame that this series will have to end tonight. Certainly if the Indiana Pacers win tonight, there's a good chance that the NBA is going to at least consider expanding it to nine games at the last minute. One can't imagine that the executives at ABC are salivating at the possibility of a Pacers/Spurs Finals. In other words: Tonight is your chance to go crazy conspiracy theorists, feel free to examine the game tape surrounding every iffy call as if it were the Zapruder film.